Confunded Quidditch
by TheGoldman
Summary: Harry has a discussion with Hermione about her using magic on McLaggen during Tryouts in sixth year. One-Shot. A scene that needed to be shown, but apparently never happened.


**AN: I don't own Harry Potter. This is a short scene that probably should've been in the book.**

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**As they came into the castle, they spotted Cormac McLaggen entering the Great Hall. It took him two attempts to get through the doors, he ricocheted off the frame on the first attempt. Ron merely guffawed gloatingly and strode off into the Hall after him, but Harry caught Hermione's arm and held her back.** [from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]

"Hermione, what the fuck were you thinking?" he asked while leading her into an antechamber, not caring about censoring his language for once. Normally, he wouldn't swear within earshot of her, but it was necessary for this.

"What do you mean, Harry?" She tried to look innocent, but was failing miserably, with the tell-tale blush spreading across her face.

"McLaggen sure looked like he was Confunded, if you ask me. And he was waiting to fly right in front of you. You've got the motive, and the means as well."

Hermione blushed even more. "Alright, I did it, but -"

Harry waved his hand, cutting her off. "But nothing, Hermione. You Confunded him when he was flying on a broom! I wouldn't want him on my team, but I don't want the tosser dead! You could have killed him."

Hermione shook her head furiously. "All I did was Confund him to miss that last save!"

Harry slammed a fist into the wall angrily. "You don't get it, do you? By deliberately damaging his motor controls and reflexes when he was flying, he could have died. What if he lost his grip on his broom? What if he tried to land and crashed into the ground, because you cast that spell on him? What if one of the Beaters lost control of a Bludger, causing it to knock him off his broom? You've seen the injuries I've gotten from flying, and that's when I was in full control of myself."

Hermione began to cry, covering her face with her hands. "I'm sorry, Harry. I just really wanted Ron to be on the team, and you should have heard what he was saying about the Weasleys! It was so foul and offensive, I could have sworn he was getting lines from Malfoy!"

Harry desperately wanted to comfort her, to wrap his arms around her and tell her it didn't matter, but he had to finish making his point to her. "You didn't even need to Confund him, Hermione. The guy's an asshole, and certainly not a team player. If I learned anything from watching Angelina and Ollie as Captain, it's that the team has to get along. I'd have kicked him off the team as soon as I heard him badmouthing anyone, and then Ron would have been my next choice. But before that, he'd have had to beat Ron in the tryouts. Even if he'd saved all five, Ron had already done that too, so it would have gone on to another trial. There wasn't really any reason to do it."

"But it's more than that, Hermione. What if there were three or four Keepers who were better than Ron? Would you have Confunded all of them?" Knowing he'd said all he needed to, Harry opened his arms. Hermione rushed into the comfort of his embrace, sobbing into his shirt.

Harry whispered reassurances to her, his arms wrapped tightly around her. "I'm sorry, Harry." She whispered, looking up into his eyes. "I should have trusted you and Ron, but instead I nearly killed someone. Can you forgive me?"

Harry kissed her gently on the forehead, smiling faintly at her. "I'll always forgive you, Hermione. You need to understand, though, that you also need to find some way to apologise to McLaggen. He might not know you did anything, but you know, and you need to right that "

"I'll get him something from Hogsmeade the next time we have a trip." Hermione agreed, smiling at Harry.

"We should probably head into the Hall and catch up with Ron, he'll be wondering what happened to us." Harry suggested, letting go of her and beginning to move towards the door.

"Harry?" Hermione called out quietly, and he turned to face her. "Don't tell him what I did."

A wry grin appeared on his face. "I'm not going to destroy my second-best friend's confidence, especially after it just got a massive boost. I know we can't all be as smart as you, but I figured that one out myself." He winked at her, and went to leave the room.

Before he did, he threw back one final comment to her. "You do know, if you told Ron how you feel, he'd ask you out, right? He feels the same way about you."

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**AN: I just need to clarify, since based on reviews, it seems a few people have misunderstood one of Harry's last comments. When he says _"I'm not going to destroy my second-best friend's confidence"_, he's talking about Ron. Hermione is his best friend, and he's basically saying, "I'm not going to tell Ron about this."**


End file.
